It's a Chastity-Reversed World, But It's Different From What I Imagined? - 8

Chapter 8: Introducing Ourselves to the Class

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With the entrance ceremony over, the students split off into their respective classes.

There were eleven advanced study classes, each with thirty students—twenty-six girls and four boys. The boys were the last to enter the classrooms from the back door. Their seats had been arranged so they would be at the very back.

I found my name written by the window seat at the far edge and sat down. Once all the boys had taken their seats, a beautiful woman planted her hands on the lectern and raised her voice.

“First of all, congratulations on your admission. I am Tsubaki Kanzaki, your homeroom teacher. This Class 1-A is composed of the top twenty-six girls with the highest grades among the advanced study students. As you know, our school reshuffles girls’ classes each year based on grades. I won’t bother explaining what that means—you must already understand it if you’ve chosen to attend this school.”

At her words, I felt the girls’ spirits blaze up, as though the heat in the classroom itself had risen.

“Good. I can feel your determination. Now, let’s start with self-introductions.”

At the teacher’s prompting, introductions began.

“Yes, yes, I’ll go first.”

The girl who stood up from the front seat by the hallway was a familiar face. It was the busty gyaru I had met that morning. She turned back to face the class.

“My name is Juri Amamiya. My hobbies are handicrafts and cosplay. I also love anime. I plan to join the handicrafts club. Let’s all get along, okay? Nice to meet you.”

She spoke brightly and cheerfully, her smile directed at all the boys. In her own way, she made a full-force appeal to them. From then on, each girl’s self-introduction felt like her own time to appeal to the boys.

Finally, the last girl seated right in front of me stood up.

“Nice to meet you, everyone. I’m Asuka Kuramine. I consider everyone here my rival. I will never lose, not just in academics but in love as well.”

She turned her gaze away from the girls and fixed it solely on Seiya. Then the other girls’ eyes also converged on Seiya. After looking startled for a moment, Seiya smiled. When that beautiful face broke into a smile, a chorus of shrieks erupted throughout the classroom.

“Alright, alright. Quiet down. You’ll bother the other classes. That wraps up the girls’ introductions. Now then, boys, will you give us your greetings?”

With considerate words, Kanzaki-sensei called for the boys to introduce themselves, starting from the hallway side. When it came to Seiya’s turn, he rose from his seat. I could even hear the girls swallowing their saliva in anticipation.

“My name is Seiya Shirogane.”

Up until then, the boys had introduced themselves in a timid, awkward manner. Seiya, however, spoke in a clear voice, smiling gently at each girl as though looking right at her, and slowly gave his name.

The girls, caught up in it, felt as though he had spoken to each of them personally. The ideal prince had smiled at them.

This was it. The very behavior of a protagonist in a chastity-reversed world story, like the ones I used to read on Kakuyomu. Radiant, dazzling, unconsciously drawing girls to him with that smile.

“I had an accident in middle school and lost my memories. I might do some things that are out of line, and I might cause trouble for everyone. But I’d be really happy if you’d still be friends with me. Please take care of me.”

After the smile came an episode that tugged at the girls’ protective instincts. Even so, his words were sincere, asking the girls to accept him and be kind.

What girl in this class could possibly dislike Seiya? No one. I could state that with certainty. If anything, there would only be more and more girls thinking, “I want to protect him. I’ll be the one to support Seiya.”

“Next is you, Yoru.”

Called on by Seiya, I realized at some point he had already sat down.

The girls’ eyes were now on me. If I stood up hastily now, I’d only ruin the atmosphere Seiya had created. So I rose slowly, taking a breath, and swept my eyes over the girls.

“I’m Yoru Kurose. Nice to meet you.”

I gave only that greeting and sat back down. Not just the girls, but even the boys looked surprised.

“Yoru, you’re way too cool.”

Only Seiya laughed happily beside me.

“Ahem. Well, now that everyone has introduced themselves… Let’s do our best this year. Today’s session is just to put faces to names. Classes will start in earnest tomorrow. Now then, rise, bow.”

I felt sorry for Kanzaki-sensei, who had been forced to wrap things up abruptly, but there was no helping the hollowness left in my chest after Seiya’s radiance. Since I didn’t have much in the way of belongings, I stood right away, intending to leave the classroom.

“Wait up, Yoru.”

When I turned at the call, I saw Seiya and several girls looking at me.

“…What is it?”

I paused a moment before answering.

“Well, since we ended up in the same class, we thought we’d all go hang out and get to know each other. So I wanted to invite you too, Yoru. The other guys already went home, but… How about it?”

The girls behind Seiya averted their eyes nervously when I looked at them. It was just like in middle school. Seiya reached out to me, but the girls clearly wanted to avoid me.

“Thanks for inviting me, but I’ll pass today.”

Going along with these cooled feelings, I doubted I could enjoy myself. More importantly, I was sure my presence would kill the mood anyway.

“Alright, next time then.”

“Yeah. See you.”

Seiya didn’t press me further and backed off easily. Many of the girls even let out sighs of relief, as if they were glad that I didn’t join them. I knew then it had been the right choice not to go, and I headed home.

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When I got home, I must have let my guard down. I changed into simple clothes I had bought from a certain well-known clothing brand. I had no energy to do anything else, so I lay down on the sofa in the living room and fell asleep.

I didn’t know how long I had slept. When I woke, the sun had already set, and Tsuki had come home.

“Huh? I fell asleep. Welcome back, Tsuki.”

Waking from sleep, my words flowed more smoothly than usual. Maybe it was thanks to the daily practice I’d been doing—speaking exercises in my room, talking to myself in the mirror.

“I-I’m home.”

Startled by me greeting her, Tsuki turned bright red. Was she still grossed out by me, like always? Even though I wanted to get along with my little sister…

“Isn’t it about time for dinner? I’ll cook today. Let’s eat together.”

I wasn’t particularly skilled at cooking, but I felt like eating fried rice. I scooped two bowls of rice and set them aside to cool.

I beat some eggs, cut ham, and tore up lettuce. I poured oil into the frying pan, scrambled the eggs quickly, then set them aside. Next I browned the ham, added the lettuce once it was colored, then tossed in the cooled rice. Finally, I threw in the eggs, seasoning with salt, pepper, and a touch of soy sauce.

The taste was… Well, mediocre.

“Alright. Let’s eat.”

With instant wakame soup on the side, the meal was complete.

“…Onii, you can cook?”

“No, I just watched some videos on NewTube.”

I had been watching that fat guy’s newtube channel ever since. At first he just looked like he was grinning for the views, but as I watched him cook, sing, and dance, I realized he was working hard to entertain. That kept me watching.

“Onii’s cooking…”

“You don’t want it?”

I asked, half-expecting her to say it was gross.

“No. I’ll eat.”

Tsuki sat down and started eating the fried rice. When I tried some myself, it was nothing special, not particularly tasty. But for a first attempt, it turned out pretty well.

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